1.1
Support For Databases Other than Oracle

With Oracle9i Forms, Oracle no longer
ships the Open Client Adaptor (OCA) for accessing databases through ODBC rather
than SQL*Net. The stated replacement for OCA is to use the Oracle Transparent
Gateways as a way to access data in databases such as Microsoft SQL Server
or IBM DB2. In the initial releases of Forms 9i, however, we cannot support
access via the transparent gateways due to the lack of support in the gateways
for "Select For Update" to enable row level locking. This deficiency will
be addressed in a future release of Oracle Forms.

1.2
demoCAcert.txt Does Not Exist in Installed iAS

(2258527) The following excerpt is in Chapter 3 of the Oracle9iAS
Forms Services Deployment Guide Release 9.0.2:

"If you are using the test certificate supplied with Oracle9iAS
for test purposes, you must edit the JInitiator certdb.txt file and append
the contents of the demo root certificate, which is located in <9iAS oracle_home/Apache/Apache/conf/ssl.crt/demoCAcert.txt."

The demoCAcert.txt file no longer exists. If you are running
with Oracle9iAS Web Cache enabled (which is usually the case), you should
use the file <9iAS oracle_home>/webcache/wallets/default/b60certificate.txt
instead. If you are not running with Web Cache (that is, you are accessing
the Oracle HTTP Server directly) you will need to create the demo root certificate
file as follows:

Start up Oracle Wallet
Manager

Open $ORACLE_HOME/Apache/Apache/conf/ssl.wlt/default/ewallet.p12

Select menu option
Export Wallet under the Operations menu

Save as text file
"demoCertCA.txt"

Once you have the required certificate file, you should follow
the instructions in the Oracle9iAS Forms Services Deployment
Guide to configure JInitiator to use the certificate (appending it to
JInitiator's certdb.txt file).

1.3
Online Help Topics Not Found Error

(2275360) In the Online Help, F1 links to obsolete built-ins,
properties, triggers, and constants give the following error message "FRM-10063:
Cannot find the help file or help file is damaged". This error occurs because
obsolete information has been removed from the help system. See Oracle9i
Forms Developer and Forms Services: Migrating Forms Applications from Forms6i,
part number A92183-01, for migration and obsolescence information.

1.4
Availability of JDAPI Javadoc

(2205868)You can download the latest JDAPI Javadoc from:

http://otn.oracle.com/docs/products/forms/content.html.

1.5
Availability of XMLTOOLS Javadoc

You can download the latest XMLTOOLS Javadoc from:

http://otn.oracle.com/docs/products/forms/content.html.

1.6
Availability of GUI Version of Migration Tool

You can download the latest graphical user interface (GUI) version
of the Migration Tool at:

http://otn.oracle.com/software/products/forms/content.html.

Documentation for the GUI version of the Migration Tool is available
at:

http://otn.oracle.com/docs/products/forms/content.html.

2
Configuration Issues and Workarounds

This section describes configuration issues and their workarounds
for Oracle 9i Forms Developer and Oracle9iASForms Services.

2.1
Graphics Integration Issues

2.1.1
TK_PRINTER Value Must Be Set

(2266745) Graphics, such as a chart, may not appear when a Form
runs. As a workaround, modify the g90runm.sh to set TK_PRINTER to the actual
$PRINTER value.

2.1.2
Graphics Integration in a Form

(2298868) The PATH environment variable in default.env must be
set to:

%ORACLE_HOME%/bin

in the 9i Oracle Home.

2.2
Availability of Translated Documentation

Oracle9iDS Forms Japanese documentation
is not available for this release. It will be available in the Japanese Oracle9iDS
Forms 9.0.2 release.

2.3
ORARRP Is Not Supported

ORARRP is not supported. In the Oracle9i Forms
Developer and Forms Services: Migrating Forms Applications from Forms6i
manual (P/N A92183-01), the following converter.properties options are not
supported:

default.use_orarrp

default.orarrp_virtual_directory

default.orarrp_physical_directory

You can ignore these options.

2.4
Forms and Reports Integration Issues

2.4.1
Reports integration fails with error frm-41213

(2278644, 2280598) As a workaround when you receive this error,
add the following to the default.env file:

2.4.2
Cannot Invoke Reports Builder from Form Builder

(2228305) As a workaround, modify the file f90desm.sh and uncomment
the line that calls reports.sh.

2.5
Sun Java 1.3 Plug-in Not Supported for Application Deployment

(2262949, 2268090) On Solaris platforms, the formsweb.cfg file
contains VM parameters that are not supported for deployment in a production
environment. The 1.3 Sun Java plug-in is not supported as a client platform
for runtime deployment. The entry in the formsweb.cfg file for this plug-in
is included only for use with Oracle9iDS Forms Developer
on Unix platforms, when running or debugging a form.

2.6
Deploying Forms Applications

To deploy Oracle9i Forms applications
on Oracle9iAS, you must configure the forms90.conf
file. Oracle9iAS Forms Services use OC4J, via mod_OC4J,
for the Forms Servlet and the Forms Listener Servlet only. All other file
handling, such as downloading client Java archives and JInitiator, is performed
directly by the Oracle HTTP Server. the forms90.conf file is automatically
configured during product installation. See the Oracle9iAS
Forms Services Deployment Guide (part number A92175-01) for information
about the forms90.conf file.

Because there is no Apache HTTP Listener on Oracle9iDS,
however, Forms uses OC4J directly for design-time deployment and for downloading
client archive files.

2.7
New Error Message

FRM-93000: Servlet internal error.
Cause: A servlet error occurred, or runtime did not start propery.
Action: See the error messages in the servlet (OC4J) log file for
clarification.

You can find the OC4J log file at:

<ORACLE_HOME>/j2ee/OC4J_BI_Forms/application-deployments/forms90app

The log file is called application.log, and is usually in a subdirectory
like OC4J_BI_Forms_default_island_1, depending on how iAS has been configured.

2.8
Unable to Use Debugger When OTHERPARAMS in a Named Configuration Section

(2161032) If you use OTHERPARAMS in a named configuration section
in the formsweb.cfg file, you overwrite the default the OTHERPARAMS parameter,
which contains the DEBUG parameter.

For example, suppose you have a named configuration that looks
like this:

[MyApp]
otherparams=usesdi=yes

Then you are overriding the default OTHERPARAMS, which looks
like this:

otherparams=debug=%debug% host=%host% port=%port%

Therefore, if you use the debugger with the MyApp configuration,
the debugger will not run. This behavior also occurs if the Application Server
URL is modified in the Form preferences to use the MyApp configuration.

The workaround is to put DEBUG, HOST, and PORT as separate parameters.
Modify the appropriate base.html file and the three separate parameters. Make
sure to also add them in the default section of formsweb.cfg. Then, remove
them from OTHERPARAMS.

2.9
Configuring Run Form on UNIX Platforms

To use Run Form on UNIX platforms, do the following:

Install the JDK 1.3.1_02
plug-in.

Set NPX_PLUGIN_PATH
to <Plug-in Installation location>/plugin/i386/ns4 to enable the Java
plug-in for Netscape.

In the Form Builder,
select Edit | Preferences |Run Time.

Enter the absolute
path to the browser in the Web Browser Location text field.

Note The Web Browser should not be a symbolic
link; if so Run Form will hang.

Click OK to save
the settings and dismiss the dialog.

2.10
Enabling HTTPS and Single Sign-On (SSO) with Oracle9i Forms

(2293330) To enable HTTPS and Single Sign-On (SSO) with Oracle
9i Forms, do the following:

Register HTTPS information
by running the following commands on the middle-tier server.

3.1
Oracle9i Forms and Enterprise Manager Issues

(2190329) The Forms Server is doing necessary clean-up work,
such as cleaning up memory allocations. The same effect happens when the Form
process is killed from the command line.

3.1.2
Enterprise Manager Strips Comments from formsweb.cfg

(2171120) If you modify the formsweb.cfg file using Enterprise
Manager, and then submit the changes, all comments that were in the formsweb.cfg
file are removed. This behavior does not occur until you submit the changes;
therefore, viewing is safe.

3.2
Oracle9i Forms Trace Issues

3.2.1
Unable To Create Defined Log Name

(2247822) Users can no longer specify the log name for the Forms
Trace file in a URL. This behavior prevents a user from accidentally writing
a file to an invalid location. If a user specifies log=<filename> in
the URL, the URL will be ignored. The file will be named forms_<pid>.trc
where <pid> is the process ID on the server. The file will be created
in the directory specified by the environment variable FORMS90_TRACE_PATH,
which is specified on the server.

3.2.2
Oracle Trace Has Been Desupported for Oracle9i Forms

(2296258) If you specify record=otrace, the Form will fail to
start. This issue will be resolved in the next patch set to Oracle9i
Forms.

3.3
Unable to Use Run Form When Saving Forms in Directories with Spaces in Path

(1983066) When creating a simple form and saving it to a directory
such as C:\Program Files\Oracle\test.fmb, and when you click the Run Form
icon, an error dialog appears:

FRM-40010 : Cannot read form C:\Program.

This error message appears when there is a space in the URL.

3.4
Changed Keyboard Shortcuts

The following keyboard shortcuts have changed:

Table 1 Keyboard
shortcuts

Action, Function, or
Tool

Shortcut in previous
releases

Shortcut in Oracle9i
Forms

PL/SQL Editor

F7

F11

Debug Module

Shift-Ctrl-F9

Shift-F9

Step Over

F12

F8

Step Into

F11

F7

Step Out

Shift-Ctrl-F11

Shift-F7

Run to Cursor

F4

Shift-F4

4
Oracle9i Forms Known Bugs

The following sections describe known bugs in Oracle9i
Forms and suggested workaround where available:

4.1
Time Zone Support for Dates Prior to November 18, 1883

(2105230) There is a known problem with conversion of dates prior
to November 18, 1883 between different time zones - e.g. US/Eastern to GMT.
The wrong result can be returned in these circumstances. This problem will
be addressed in a future patch of Oracle9i Forms.

4.2
Forms Can Mangle Data In NCHAR Or NVARCHAR2 Columns

(2060602) Data in NCHAR or NVARCHAR2 columns may not be correct.
When a Form is running against a database that has non-Unicode NLS_CHARACTERSET,
data can be mangled when inserting or updating from a CHAR item in the Form
into an NCHAR or NVARCHAR2 column in the database, even when the server hosting
the Form specifies the UTF8 character set for NLS_LANG.

Data can also be mangled when querying from NCHAR or NVARCHAR2
columns.

(2175919) After querying records into a data block, and if the
ONETIMEWHERE property is set for the data block, Forms crashes while retrieving
the ONETIMEWHERE property.

As a workaround, if you set the ONETIMEWHERE property on a block,
then execute the query, do not get the ONETIMEWHERE property.

4.4
Layout Editor Should Show Iconic Button GIF/JPG Images

(1960603) In a Web environment, icons are either.GIF or.JPG files.
However, in the Layout Editor in the Forms Builder, ICO files are still used
to display icons. These icons are used for design-time only. At runtime, GIF
and JPG files are used. A future version of Oracle9i
Forms should support GIF and JPG files in the Form Builder at design-time.

4.5
Cannot Use Keyboard to Navigate to Select Java Classes Field

(2235125) In the Import Java Classes dialog, you cannot navigate
using keys to the Select Java Classes field.

4.6
Migration Assistant

(2250726) DATA_PARAMETER that is used with Run_Product to call
Reports cannot be passed to Reports via Run_Report_Object. The migration assistant
issues a warning that if this is used in Conjunction with RUN_PRODUCT() for
Reports then it will no longer work.

4.6.1
Migration Assistant and PLL files

(2116895 and 2116644)

The migration of a PLL file is unsuccessful if the PLL contains
either the keyword "language" or "userenv('LANG')". As a workaround, we have
fixed the Migration Assistant so that if it finds the occurrence of either
of these words inside the PLL, it will abort the migration process with an
error message. The error message is different for each keyword, and looks
something like:

Unfortunately, the occurrences of these stop words inside comments
also cause migration to be aborted. If you don't want to abort migration of
the PLL, you can comment out the userenv and language category lines in the
search_replace.properties file.

4.6.2
Compile After Conversion

(2175830) Compile After Conversion (default.generateruntime)
is still valid, and is a true/false property. If it is set to "true", the
module is compiled after conversion (i.e .fmx or .mmx or .plx file is generated).
In the case of PLL files, the PLX file is always generated, irrespective of
the default.generateruntime property. This behavior is incorrect, and bug
2175830 has been filed for it.

As a workaround, look at the Edit
| Inherit menu. It will be disabled if the property in question has a grey
dot; otherwise, it is enabled. When it is enabled, you can look at the Subclass
Information property, navigate to the property class, and see if the property
is inherited or not and compare values.

Alternatively, you can convert the .fmb file to XML and look
at the properties there. Only overwritten properties will be displayed in
the XML.

4.7
RUN_PRODUCT Built-in Fails When Used to Start a Second Forms Session

(2258275) When the RUN_PRODUCT Built-in to invoke a second Web-deployed
Forms application, you may receive the error:

Connection from a new browser window not supported

Also, the original Form session may freeze when the newly created
one is exited. As a workaround, use the "open_form" PL/SQL built-in to run
another (or the same) Form instance in a new session instead of using run_product.
This is the recommended way of running multiple Forms sessions in one browser
window.

4.8
Valid Bean Name In Implementation Class Returns FRM-13008 Error

(2254547) After assigning a valid bean name in the Implementation
Class Property, Forms returns the following error:

FRM-13008: cannot find javabean with name 'mypackage.PJCBeanWrapper'.

Make sure all the dependent class files are available to Forms
builder. If you have created the bean using JDeveloper PJC Wizard, add jdev-rt.jar,
f90all.jar and the jar containing the bean classes to FORMS90_BUILDER_CLASSPATH
as a workaround.

4.9
Valid Bean Does Not Display in Bean Area of Layout Editor

(2258187) On Solaris, you won't see a new object in the Layout
Editor after a valid bean name is set in the Implementation Class property.
Unlike the Windows version of the Layout Editor, the Solaris version does
not give any user feedback.

Since no feedback is given, and if you've set the classpath incorrectly,
or an invalid Bean name is set in the Implementation Class property, you won't
know about the error until you run the Form module.

4.10
XMLTOOL Issues

4.10.1
Converting a Form Module to XML and Back

(2252171) After converting an Oracle9i
Forms module to its XML equivalent and then back to a Forms module, the canvases
may not display correctly because custom color palettes are not preserved
in the conversion.

4.10.2
XML To FMB Conversion Does Not Report Image Errors

(2061461) When doing an XML to FMB conversion on an Oracle9i
Form that contains a graphics object of type IMAGE, and the image file is
not found, the conversion utility provides no warning. When this Form is loaded
into the Forms Builder and the canvas containing that object is opened, the
Form Builder crashes.

4.10.3
XML Converter Throws Exception if PLL Is Missing

(2255174) When using the XML converter on a Oracle9i
Form with an attached PLL file, and if the PLL file is not in the FORMS90_PATH,
the XML Converter throws an exception. Instead of a clear message which indicates
the PLL file that is causing the problem, the user gets an ambiguous error:

5.1
Obsolete Menu Item Type Upgrade Messages

(2055224) This following messages related to the upgrade of obsolete
menu item types are not present in non-English versions of the message file.

The following messages were added to the message file:

2500,0, "PLUS-type menu items are not supported in this version of
Forms.\n"
2501,0, "FORM-type menu items are not supported in this version of
Forms.\n"
2502,0, "MACRO-type menu items are not supported in this version of
Forms.\n"
2503,0, "This menu item has been converted to a PL/SQL-type menu
item.\nThe old command text is shown within comments below.\n"
2504,0, "Consider using the HOST built-in with the original text."
2505,0, "Consider using the CALL_FORM built-in with the original text."
2506,0, "Consider using the MACRO built-in with the original text."

5.2
Use of Multibyte Characters in URL Query Parameters and Form Name

(1994138 and 1961840) Multibyte or bidirectional characters in
query parameters in a URL used to invoke the Forms Servlet may not be handled
correctly. For example, attempting to run a form whose (fmx) file name contains
multibyte characters using a URL like

http://myserver/forms90/f90servlet?form=abcXX

may fail with an error saying the form module was not found (where
XX represent multibyte or bidirectional characters). Also, specifying a multibyte
form name in the formsweb.cfg file may fail in the same way too. The workaround
is to rename the Form fmx file to a name not containing multibyte characters.
These issues will be addressed in a future release.

5.3
Multibyte Characters in Environment File

(194001) Multibyte or bidirectional characters in the environment
file (usually called default.env) may not be read correctly. For example,
if the FORMS90_PATH variable contains such characters the form may not be
found (case where path to the form includes directories whose names contain
multibyte characters). A workaround is to place the form module under directories
with names which only include single byte characters.

6
Documentation Errata

This section describes known errors in the Oracle9i
Forms documentation set:

6.1
Online Help System

6.1.1
Browsing PL/SQL Package Global Variables in the Debugger

In the Online Help topic "About Debugging", the sixth bullet
in the list incorrectly mentions that you can browse instantiated PL/SQL package
global variables. These variables cannot be seen in the debugger.

6.1.2
Default Alert Button Property Is Required Not Optional

(2278996) The Online Help topic for the Alert Property "Default
Alert Button Property" describes the property as optional when in fact it
is required.

6.1.3
Incorrect Environment Variable

(2281042) On page FORMS90_DEFAULTFONT, the description for FORMS90_DEFAULTFONT
is incorrectly written as FORMS60_DEFAULTFONT.

6.1.4
Incorrect Path in Java Importer Help

(2249678) In the Online Help topic "Java Importer", in the C.3
Installation Requirements section, there is an incorrect path:

ORACLE_HOME/TOOLS/COMMON60/JAVA/importer.jar

The correct path is:

ORACLE_HOME/JLIB/importer.jar.

6.1.5
Incorrect Java Code in JDAPI Documentation

(2215338) The Online Help topic "Starting A Jdapi Session" contains
the following piece of Java code:

import oracle.forms.jdapi.*;
// Jdapi.startup() does not need to be called because we are starting
// the Jdapi in default mode.
//
public class JdapiSessionExample
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
// suppress errors from missing subclassed modules
Jdapi.setFailSubclassLoad(true);
// suppress errors from missing PLLs
Jdapi.setFailLibraryLoad(true);
// This line will cause initialisation FormModule. fmb = new
FormModule("myform.fmb");